How to configure xterm?

In article <a4171f97.0407271910.48418ee4.TakeThisOut@posting.google.com>, tron.thomas.TakeThisOut@verizon.net (Tron Thomas) writes:
 >I created a .profile file in my home directory which allows me to
 >configure the appearance of the Terminal application (i.e. adjusting
 >the prompt 'PS1').
 >
 >However, when I run the X11 application and an instance of xterm
 >appears, xterm does not apply the settings in the .profile
 >congfiguration file.
 >
 >What do I need to do to adjust the settings for xterm?

FWIW, I've found that I could only use the .Xdefault's resources to
get the xterm setups I desired.

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 >> Stay informed about: How to configure xterm? 

On 2004-07-28, Matt <forum DeleteThis @syrius.org> wrote:
 > You have to explicitly tell to xterm to look at your .profile with the
 > "-ls" flag.

Since the OP probably doesn't understand what this is all about it
might be useful to explain. ~/.profile is only used for login shells,
and xterm by default runs an ordinary shell, not a login shell. The
-ls forces it to run a login shell.

But there's no reason to do that. The prompt settings belongs in
~/.bashrc, which runs with every (interactive) shell, and not in
..profile, which only runs on login shells. Moving it to ~/.bashrc
will solve the problem for all terminal emulators.



 > man xterm for more informations.

Or man bash to understand more clearly what happens when.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: How to configure xterm? 

On 28 Jul 2004 11:47:22 GMT,
noman (noman@klassikal.net) wrote:
 > But there's no reason to do that. The prompt settings belongs in
 > ~/.bashrc, which runs with every (interactive) shell

~/.bashrc is _not_ read for every interactive shell. It is only
read for those interactive shells that are _not_ login shells.

Quoting from the bash manual page:
"When an interactive shell that is not a login shell is started, bash
reads and executes commands from ~/.bashrc, if that file exists. This
may be inhibited by using the --norc option."

 > , and not in
 > .profile, which only runs on login shells. Moving it to ~/.bashrc
 > will solve the problem for all terminal emulators.

So, no - moving it to ~/.bashrc will _not_ solve the problem for all
terminal emulators.

 >
 > Or man bash to understand more clearly what happens when.

You're an odd one to be giving that advice, don't you think?

BTW, this behaviour in bash is true for versions upto the current
version (3.0 -- that was released yesterday).
--
Bev A. Kupf
"The lyfe so short, the craft so long to lerne" -- Chaucer
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 >> Stay informed about: How to configure xterm? 

On 2004-07-28, Bev A. Kupf <bevakupf RemoveThis @myhome.net> wrote:
 > ~/.bashrc is _not_ read for every interactive shell. It is only
 > read for those interactive shells that are _not_ login shells.

Yes, you're right. I should have taken my own advice and read the man
page. I don't use bash unless I have to, and when I do, I have my
environment configured so that everything happens in .bashrc (I can
think of no reason ever to start a new interactive shell without
wanting a standard environment) and .profile just sources .bashrc.
Since this is such obviously sensible behavior, and since I set it up
many many years ago, I forgot that I had to do it manually.



 > So, no - moving it to ~/.bashrc will _not_ solve the problem for all
 > terminal emulators.

Calm down. It will if you set up your environment sensibly. See
above.



 > You're an odd one to be giving that advice, don't you think?

Unlike you I occasionally make mistakes, which I always freely admit
to. What's it like to be perfect Bev?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: How to configure xterm? 

On 28 Jul 2004 12:45:11 GMT,
noman (noman@klassikal.net) wrote:
  >> You're an odd one to be giving that advice, don't you think?
 >
 > Unlike you I occasionally make mistakes, which I always freely admit
 > to. What's it like to be perfect Bev?

Go back and read the text of your follow-up to Matt. My response was
directed at your taking him to task for giving an accurate and
perfectly acceptable solution (launch xterm with the '-ls' option).

(or did you forget the tone & content of your follow-up?)

As for being perfect, I would never claim that - but thank you for
the compliment.

--
Bev A. Kupf
"The lyfe so short, the craft so long to lerne" -- Chaucer
JWolf - more flavours than Baskin Robbins - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://macconsult.com/diaperboy/" target="_blank">http://macconsult.com/diaperboy/</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: How to configure xterm? 

Matt <forum RemoveThis @syrius.org> exponit:
 > On 27 Jul 2004 20:10:29 -0700,
 > Tron Thomas <tron.thomas RemoveThis @verizon.net> wrote:
 >
  >> What do I need to do to adjust the settings for xterm?
 >
 > You have to explicitly tell to xterm to look at your .profile with the
 > "-ls" flag.

Another approach is to use "-e login -fp $USER" at the end of the xterm command.

Greg Shenaut<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: How to configure xterm? 

On 2004-07-28, Bev A. Kupf <bevakupf DeleteThis @myhome.net> wrote:
  >> Unlike you I occasionally make mistakes, which I always freely admit
  >> to. What's it like to be perfect Bev?
 >
 > Go back and read the text of your follow-up to Matt.

Done.


 > My response was
 > directed at your taking him to task

No one was "taken to task" here. I don't believe the correct answer
to the question "how do I get my preferrred prompt in an xterm" (which
is effectively what the OP wanted to know) is "always run a login
shell". I also don't think it's a good idea to tell someone to do
something relatively arcane (like "add -ls") without explaining why.
I pointed these things out, quite matter of factly.

Now go back and read the text of your followup to mine. Compare and
contrast.



 > (or did you forget the tone & content of your follow-up?)

Nope, I didn't. My memory's not the greatest anymore -- witness my
forgetting of the bash startup procedure -- but it's not as bad as all
that. The tone was neutral; the content was flawed in the way you
were so delighted to point out, though not as off the mark as you seem
to want it to be. Fundamentally it was imo the right answer: don't do
this only for login shells. Since bash is not my default shell I
forgot an essential step, which you unintentionally reminded me of:
it's always a good idea to source .bashrc from .profile.




 > As for being perfect, I would never claim that - but thank you for
 > the compliment.

Thank you for my confirming my suspicions.



Bev and her perfection aside, here's my preferred solution:

- Move the prompt handling from ~/.profile to ~/.bashrc

- Add a line to ~/.profile so that it sources ~/.bashrc

- Run login shells only if you think it's appropriate, and not just
because you happened to put something in .profile which you really
want to apply to all interactive shells.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: How to configure xterm?